There is a definite sense the relief operation for Saturday's earthquake in Java is moving up a gear - there is more urgency, more energy.

In the town of Imogiri, the long clear up is under way

South of Yogyakarta, in the town of Bintul, the car park of what used to be the local mayor's house has become the co-ordination centre for the relief effort.

Lorries are coming in and going out all the time.
A group of soldiers is loading boxes of noodles into the back of a lorry ready to be taken to the affected villages.

The Indonesians are in charge of this operation, and the military are very much at the centre of that effort. But there is a significant international presence here as well.

Ronny, from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), says 20 trucks are being used to deliver aid donations to surrounding towns and villages.

"It will get as soon as possible to the people who really, really need," he says.

Eduoard Beigbeder, from Unicef, says each emergency had its own challenges. "Right now it is to deliver water and to deliver the non-food items so that the people get shelters," he explains.

There are a couple of buildings still standing but people are too afraid to go back in

Eyewitness

He says aid agencies have learned from the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami to better co-ordinate efforts.

"There is a network among the agencies who know each other and understand how to work [together]. We as well have learned our own lessons from the tsunami emergency," he said.

Rubble and bricks

In the surrounding villages, aid is most desperately needed. In one small village, surrounded by farm land, almost every building has been either partially destroyed or completely collapsed.

Piles of rubble, bricks and wood lie everywhere, while people sit outside in makeshift shelters.

"There are a couple of buildings still standing but people are too afraid to go back in because they are afraid something will happen. And its been hard for them to leave now because they don't have any place to live," one man says.

Villagers say they have not seen any major help from the government yet. The military had come here and pulled some of the dead bodies from the rubble, but they did not bring any food and water.

One man asks us if we can go and tell the authorities that the village needs help.

In the small town of Imogiri, a military truck and a bulldozer are beginning the work of clearing some of the debris.

Three bodies were pulled from the rubble yesterday, but local people do not think anybody else is trapped inside.

So they are starting to remove the rubble. And this is the kind of work that is going to go on now for the next few days and weeks. But at least help is beginning to arrive.